Bittersweet Melodies Wrapped Up In Similitude
One of the most predominant features of Julie Byrne’s new album The Greater Wings is its sense of transportive sound and lyricism. Amidst magnificent soundscapes and heavy, otherworldly lyrics, Byrne’s work holds an almost cinematic presence.
The opening song and title track, “The Greater Wings,” opens with the line “I drank the air to be nearer to you.” This line is a perfect representation of her lyrical ambition which is prevalent throughout the whole album. She discusses a relationship by intertwining it with the metaphysical. Weaving it into “chords,” “galaxies” and “valleys,” she speaks in magnitudes, creating a sense of magnificence with her rich lyricism, alongside vivid soundscapes and mellow, somber vocals.
As well as speaking in vastness, she also captures a sense of minuteness. From discussing space and galaxies in the title track to “counting particles” on “Moonless,” she is sternly connected to all elements of the world around her, the big, the small, the huge and the minuscule.
Though a critique of this album could be its similitude, Byrne finds diversity in other forms. Through bittersweet melodies in the playful plucking sounds of “Portrait of a Clear Day,” the intimate piano ballad and wavering vocals of the final song “Death is the Diamond,” or the electrical synth sounds of “Summer Glass,” Byrne reaches magnificent diversity in terms of sound.
Another resounding feature of the album is the use of instrumentals or silence. The song “Summer’s End” is an all-instrumental track marked by a meditative soundscape and the silent serenity of windchimes and harps, supposedly marking the stillness of the end of summer. This song, acting as the centerpiece of the album, removes the lyrical richness of the album, and holds its own in a deep, musing array of sound and free-flowing musicality. The 40-second silence following the final track “Death is a Diamond” offers a reflective period after one of the most genuine songs on the album, as well as a distinctly honest album as a whole.
Byrne’s album speaks on grief, yearning, love and loss, alongside transportive lyricism and soundscapes. Her lyrics reach vast scales and depths, which accompanied by the instrumentation, create a Zen, harmonious atmosphere of introspectiveness.
Leave a Comment